I was going to title this "dasfinc tell me what ford to buy"
dasfinc is probably the only one with personal experience.
Roflmao, I'm sorry that I'm a ford swinger!
The 1.9 is a tank of a motor, and the transmission is a stout piece as well. I flipped a 95 "Pony" a while back that was a 1.9 with the 5 speed, and my old roomate owned a 5 door hatch 95 with the 1.9 and an auto for many years.
Neither of the ones I drove had even the slightest mechanical issue, neither burned oil, leaked, or had and kind of mis or studder. Surprised the hell out of me in that regard.
The 5 speed I picked up needed both slave and master cylinders for the clutch (both were easily replaced, and cost $116 total), drove it home just fine by giving it a double pump to get it into first, and drove it clutchless the rest of the way like it was nothing.
Predictably rust is an issue on these years (91-96), and being that old most of them have suspension that is getting long in the teeth (Broken endlinks, clunking struts, bad balljoints/control arm bushings). All very cheap to repair, but annoying to replace on a car you plan on beating into the ground with miles.
Both of the ones I drove got over 32mpg mixed driving, and I haven't heard about these motors having headgasket or timing belt/chain related failures commonly. They are BALLS slow, and only had like 86 or 109hp depending upon the year/trim.
Many come with 13 inch rims/tires which are like $32 a tire, which is nice if you are going to be plugging serious miles onto it, and wagons are quite common.
As far as space goes, they were fine, the 5 door sedan was cool in regards to having more usable rear space compared to the 4 door, and the wagon will be cavernous of course. The interiors reminded me of the 88-91 Civics, VERY similar honestly in layout of the center console, and many of the controls.
Will one do what you need it to do? Yes. Will it be balls slow and probably need Suspension/Brakes? Yes.
I'd also take a look at 97+ Generation of Escorts, they can be had just as cheaply and are less prone to rust issues, will be just as resilient, and have a spec more power with the 2.0 engine.
I'd also take a look at a 2.0 Zetec powered Contour, they can be had with a 5 speed, and can probably get 30mpg+ if driven right. They are also a dime a dozen, have more space, and a slightly more modern interior than the escort.
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